Galatasaray holds on for thrilling first victory

Galatasaray Odeabank held its nerve to seal its first win of the season with a thrilling 89-87 victory over Olympiacos Piraeus on Friday at Abdi Ipekci Arena. Several players delivered outstanding offensive performances for the home team, with Sinan Guler acting as the catalyst by dishing a career-high 12 assists. Justin Dentmon stood out with 22 points, Jon Diebler contributed 17 on 5-of-5 three-point shooting, Austin Daye added 16 and Alex Tyus posted 10 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks, the last of which helped seal the win in the final seconds. Vangelis Mantzaris paced the Reds with 5-of-8 three-point shooting for 19 points, Georgios Printezis posted 17 points, Khem Birch tallied 16 points and 11 rebounds, Matt Lojeski added 15 points and Vassilis Spanoulis had 14 points and 8 assists. Galatasray made up for a 27-44 rebounding disadvantage by making 13 of 22 threes (59.1%).

Olympiacos flew out of the blocks, with inside dominance from Birch helping to establish a 6-20 lead just past the first quarter’s midway point. But Dentmon then hit back with 8 quick points as Galatasaray responded emphatically with an astonishing 19-0 run, in which it held Olympiacos scoreless for more than six minutes. Triples from Diebler and Daye soon gave the home team a double-digit lead, but Olympiacos fought back to make it 38-34 at half-time. The second half was a tale of three-pointers, with Galatasaray repeatedly stretching its lead only for Olympiacos to always come back and keep the game in the balance. A long-range strike from Spanoulis made it a 1-point game in the final minute, but Tyus blocked Printezis’s attempted game-winner and Galatasaray held on.

Head Coaches

ATAMAN, ERGIN

Galatasaray Odeabank Istanbul

"We had a meaningful win in an important week in Turkey. We gave good signals last week in Madrid, but we couldn't manage to win there. In the first half we were good in defense. We had no trouble except for Printezis. In the second half we kept control of the game. We had a 14-point lead. Lojeski and Mantzaris were efficient with their outside shots. We could have won by a big margin. In the end we managed to win."

SFAIROPOULOS, IOANNIS

Olympiacos Piraeus

"It was a very interesting game. We started the game with great concentration. We played very good defense, especially in the first six, seven minutes. After that we lost our concentration and were not good, offensively or defensively. At the end of the game, we had our chances to win. I think the game was decided in the end by a few details, defensively and offensively. I’ll give an example: some tough shots they scored from outside and some easy layups they scored. And on the other side we missed some open threes in the last five minutes or some free throws and small details decided the game. Congratulations to Galatasaray. "

Players

DIEBLER, JON

Galatasaray Odeabank Istanbul

"It was a good win for us to finally get our first win, especially here in front of our fans. We lost I think two or three games at home so far in EuroLeague, but we played well, we played really good defense in the first half and we shot better in the second half. So it was a good win for us. "

DENTMON, JUSTIN

Galatasaray Odeabank Istanbul

"It feels good. Now it is time for us to get rolling. We have to take this into our next game. I was sad when Micov missed the free throws, but we made up, so I was happy. I was just able to help my team on the court and off the court. It is just a great win for our fans against a great team. It was an amazing win. You have to give credit to everybody. I think we played great defense tonight. I think it was one of our best defensive efforts all season. We helped each other and I give credit to Alex for that amazing block."